Fewer Bixis were on the road in July

Monique Muise, THE GAZETTE08.13.2014

Bixi board vice-president Sylvia Morin says the company is being as transparent as possible given that “we’re a startup.”Allen McInnis
/ Montreal Gazette

BIXI Montreal bicycle mechanic Gabrielle Geurin repairs a broken Bixi bike in the company workshop in Montreal on Wednesday August 13, 2014. Geurin has been with Bixi since the company first opened it's doors.Allen McInnis
/ Montreal Gazette

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MONTREAL — Despite a rough start to the season and less-than-encouraging numbers for the month of July, Bixi’s new board of directors says it remains optimistic about the future of the bike-sharing outfit and is “convinced that this will be a service that will continue.”

“What I can tell you is that we on the board believe in Bixi,” said board president Marie Elaine Farley at a news conference held to update the public on the 2014 season so far.

“We’re currently working on our recommendations and we’re evaluating all the facets. All solutions are on table.”

While the board did not provide any updates on Bixi’s financial situation on Wednesday, it did release mid-season ridership and membership figures. As of the end of July, 33,715 Bixi memberships had been sold in Montreal — an eight per cent drop from last year. The number of individual trips purchased by non-members between April 15 and July 31 was down 17 per cent from 2013, coming in at 60,302.

While those numbers seem somewhat bleak for a company that has been teetering on the edge since it was founded earlier this year, board vice-president Sylvia Morin said she is extremely satisfied with the current membership totals.

“We’re at over 90 per cent of where we were last year,” Morin said. “For us, that’s a major accomplishment ... we really didn’t know what to expect from the 2014 season.”

Board member Suzanne Lareau echoed those sentiments, adding that “it’s too soon to say if the current number of members is sufficient, with other sources of revenue, to ensure financial viability ... We’ll tell you in the fall, that’s certain. It’s part of the work we’re doing.”

The board members blamed a cold, wet spring, the delays in getting Bixi’s new website up and running, and the damaging publicity surrounding the bankruptcy of the company’s former incarnation for a loss of members early in the season. But it seems that July may also have been a difficult month. Numbers released Wednesday show that 583,702 individual rides were taken in July 2014, while on average between 2009 and 2013, the month of July produced a much higher volume of rides — almost 618,000.

According to Morin, drastic reductions in Bixi’s advertising and marketing budgets may be partly to blame for the slump.

Asked by reporters why the board has not released detailed membership and ridership numbers each month, Morin said the city-controlled company is still getting off the ground and is being as transparent as possible given that “we’re a startup.”

The company that first brought Bixi to Montreal filed for bankruptcy protection in January, prompting the city to take over the service for a year to save the 2014 season. Municipal council approved a $5-million budget to carry the new company through this year, in addition to a $165,000 subsidy to help it get off the ground. The city also approved a short-term loan of $460,000 so Bixi could buy trucks and trailers required to move bikes. Transferring the bike-redistribution service away from a sub-contractor and handling it in-house has saved Bixi a significant amount of money, Lareau said Wednesday.

As for the $360,000 in additional funding related to the bike-sharing service that municipal council is being asked to approve next Monday, Morin said that contract is between the city and a private tech firm, 8D Technologies.

“What the city is doing with 8D now is making sure that all the best efforts are put forward to make this work this year. The money is (to pay for) what has already been done to bring the system up to par, and there are things that 8D has to do to keep the system operational. What we don’t want is a system that breaks down.”

Bixi is currently offering a special on half-season memberships at $40 each in an effort to bump up sales in August and September. The board’s report to the city, complete with recommendations, is expected to be made public this fall.

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